GAA:BRIAN CODY has always been philosophical about injuries, knowing that worrying about them doesn't help. But he must be wondering when Kilkenny's run of bad luck will change.
Sunday’s win over Offaly confirmed their place in the Division One final against Dublin, and yet came at some considerable cost. Forward Aidan Fogarty is now in danger of missing the championship after breaking two bones in his ankle, while Michael Fennelly and John Dalton are certain to miss at least the league final.
Fennelly broke a bone in his hand that is set to keep him sidelined for four weeks, while Dalton tore ankle ligaments that will resign him to a similar lay-off.
But Fogarty’s injury is of most concern, and while the early diagnosis is an eight-12 week recovery, such injuries have taken a lot longer to fully heal, and it could be well into the championship before he is even reconsidered.
Fennelly’s injury occurred just before half-time, while Fogarty, who had substituted Richie Hogan, and Dalton sustained their injuries late on, and were brought straight to hospital.
Cody at least got some good news last night with confirmation that Hogan had only twisted his ankle, and should be okay for the league final.
However, the injuries are mounting: Tommy Walsh (shoulder), JJ Delaney (hamstring) and Richie Power (hip) are still sidelined and unlikely to return for Sunday week, while cruciate knee victims Henry Shefflin and John Tennyson are still some distance away from match fitness. Shefflin is enduring a particularly slow recovery from his second cruciate tear.
“It is part and parcel of the game,” says Cody, “so I don’t concern myself too much about it as it something I have no control over. It has been stop-start with players coming in and players going out. There is genuine uncertainty over the availability of players even at this stage and that is disappointing.
“But we’ll keep on going and working hard. Sure, we would love to have everyone fit and available, but with players out, an opportunity is being given to others. Different players have done different things in different ways on different days so far.”
The league final marks Kilkenny’s third meeting with Dublin this season: they lost out to Anthony Daly’s team in the Walsh Cup final, then drew in the penultimate round of the league, in Croke Park.
Cody, however, admitted that result in the Walsh Cup won’t count for much: “They’re light-years apart, to be honest about it. The Walsh Cup serves its purpose at a particular time of the year, and I’m not minimising Dublin’s performance in that, no more than ourselves in other years. But the league final is a step up, and the championship is around the corner too, and two weeks time is the last game before that, really.”
Meanwhile All-Ireland champions Tipperary, who have had their own injury worries, were relieved to learn that midfielder Shane McGrath will be available for the Munster championship opener against Cork on May 29th. McGrath was carried off during the second half of Sunday’s league match against Wexford, and while there were fears he had broken his ankle, scans have revealed nothing worse than severe bruising.
In football, meanwhile, Cork midfielder Aidan Walsh looks certain to miss the Division One showdown against Dublin at Croke Park this Sunday, after sustaining a hamstring injury in the All-Ireland under-21 semi-final defeat to Galway on Saturday night.
On a positive note, veteran defender Anthony Lynch could be in line for a first game since 2009 having come though a challenge game against Sligo over the weekend.
Cork manager Conor Counihan and Dublin’s Pat Gilroy are expected to name their teams on Thursday, with suspensions also ruling out Cork’s Eoin Cadogan and Dublin’s Alan Brogan.
